First off... about the car;

- 93 Touring
- stock wheels/suspension

Just put in new (6) pillow ***** and bought a set of dunlop z1 star specs in 225 50 R16 OE sizing.

Took the car to a place I've been before in Richmond, Va (Mincz Tire) to get alignment done to specs and tires put on.

Specs are done to Pettit's street specs. http://www.pettitracing.com/faq/information.htm

I come to pick up the car expecting a bill for $70 alignment and maybe $15 mount and balance per tire. $100 to mount/balance tires $100 alignment... ok, fine should have asked first. Got ripped off.

I get the car on the interstate and no matter what lane you are in (even on the left side of a moderate crowning), the wheel centers to the left and when you let go, you head straight into the other lane. Something is wrong. The thing goes around corners with the wheel straight.

So, i bring it by, they blame the tires, cross them, no difference. Then when I want them to check the alignment, they say since i provided the specs I would have to pay for another alignment. They say the specs are for "racing" and they are not asymmetrical like stock specs and that is why it pulls.

I told them it was unacceptable to charge me to check their work. Their response is that I can't ask them to do the same job twice...

With the car parked, wheel centered and looking across the front tires, the drivers side puts your line of sight to the street and the passenger side puts it into the door.

So, am I just naive or are these guys being lazy and jerking me around?

 

I don't know how much you know about the FD suspension, but these guys are clearly jerking you around. There's a pretty wide range of alignment settings to which the FD can easily be set.

The Pettit street specs are hardly radical.

Speak the management about it, be polite, but make it clear that this is unacceptable.

If that doesn't help, take it to a reputable alignment shop. Ask on your local forum for someone that knows what they are doing and will stand behind your work.

And yeah, you will still be out the $100.

One of the problems with playing with cars is finding reputable people to work with.

Which is part of the reason so many of us DIY.

 

you just paid for a mis-alignement.

when a car is aligned the steering wheel is set in the straight ahead position and LOCKED.

they did not do that. they aligned (mis-aliigned) the car w the wheel askew. totally incompetent.

the Pettit specs are garden variety. nothing out of the ordinary. the only spec that is barely diff than stock is the camber and that does not pull the car in one direction.


uneven tire pressure could make the car pull but it would have to be alot and wouldn't have much effect.

toe is normally what pulls a car off center. it will also wreck a new set of tires in 500 miles.

the FD is a simple car to align.

take your car to a real alignment shop and have them straighten the wheel and give you a PRINTED spec sheet on the settings. take it back to your shop and see what you can do. make sure you have the new shop check that the rear thrust angle is zero as that could be your problem.

do not drive the car til you have a real alignment shop fix it or you will grind up your tires in short order.

don't let a shop give you a bunch of baloney about because it is a sports car the job will be 2X. the FD is a simple job.

good luck,

howard

 

Wish I had the resources to do alignment myself. Sometimes getting work done yields some frightening results despite the money you spend.

I think I will take your advice by taking the car to another shop. It's a Sears Tire America, but they have done great work for me (on the FC) in the past and probably hold a higher standard than these shmucks.

I'll get a before and after print-off from them and see what i can recoup from these weasels with that evidence. Probably nothing, but I would at least like them to know that they were wrong.

 

Man, this story sounds exactly like what I've been through over the years with a local mis-alignment shop (that's out of business now, I wonder why)...now I go to Sears and get top notch service with my own specs AND they let me put my butt in the driver seat during the process, (which is cool cause you get to watch the specs on the screen the whole time). All for $69.95! Well I tip the guy too, cause they go through the extra trouble of removing the front safety plates off the rack to clear my front bumper.

 

It is definietly alot better now.

So, it was obviously off and i will try to recoup my $$ (blood from a turnip)... but the car still has some right pull and the wheel needs to be held slightly left when cruising on the interstate.

It has been pulling right ever since I changed out the 6 rear pillow *****. Any ideas why this is happening and is relatively unchanged by alignment?